Mornings With My Cat Mii

[A] gentle meditative narrative… Inaba muses on her own life…and has to confront mortality… Cat lovers, prepare to weep * The Times, Book of the Month *Skillfully translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori… Inaba has a poet’s eye for the natural world… The memoir documents not only one woman’s personal journey, but also the ineffable bond between human and animal as Inaba becomes guardian to Mii, then caretaker and, finally, mourner. * Japan Times *Heartwarming… a beautiful read for cat lovers everywhere * My Weekly *Mornings With My Cat Mii is beautiful (irrespective of one’s feelings towards cats) because Inaba is writing about love, the sort of love one could equally have for a human companion, about her pleasure in Mii’s company and ultimately, about grief. I read it in one sitting, and will likely go back and read it again. I thoroughly recommend it. – Nicky Harman * Books on Asia *

Mayumi Inaba (1950–2014) was a Japanese writer, editor and poet. She made her debut in 1973 with the short story ‘The Pain of Blue Shadows’, and she went on to write many novels and collections for which she won several awards, including the Kawabata Yasunari Prize. She was awarded the Tanizaki Prize for To the Peninsula. Inaba was well known for her love of cats.

Ginny Tapley Takemori is the award-winning translator of Sayaka Murata’s Convenience Store Woman and other contemporary Japanese literature. She lives in rural Japan with her husband and three cats.